Multi-tiered media services for globally interconnecting businesses and customers

ABSTRACT

A multi-tiered communication system for minimizing communication latency for a caller in a remote location who initiates contact with a local data center. The system includes a local data center located in a first location including one or more Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) functions that are configured for use with a caller who initiates contact with the local data center. The system also includes a remote media server located in a second location. The remote media server is configured to route an incoming call from the caller to the local data center, to route one or more IVR messages to the caller and to connect the caller with an agent for real-time communication. The agent is located in one of the second location or a third location that is substantially closer to the second location than the first location. Having the local data center in the first location enables the IVR message to be received by the caller after a period of expected delay and having the remote media server in the second or third location enables the real-time communication between the caller and the agent to be within an acceptable latency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

Communication and business systems are becoming globalized for manycompanies due to the capacity and reach of the internet. There areconnectivity challenges in doing this for many companies when it comesto managing streaming media between geographically-dispersed customers,geographically-dispersed company representatives, and company servershoused in a few fixed locations.

Globalized communications commonly involve longer geographic distanceswhen compared to domestic communications. Longer distances betweencommunicating parties suffer from longer propagation delays, which willoften degrade the quality of the communication experience between theparties.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one area of technology where some embodiments describedherein may be practiced.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One embodiment disclosed herein relates to a multi-tiered communicationsystem for minimizing communication latency for a caller in a remotelocation who initiates contact with a local data center. The systemincludes a local data center located in a first location. The local datacenter includes one or more Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR)functions that are configured for use with a caller who initiatescontact with the local data center.

The system also includes a remote media server located in a secondlocation that is remote from the first location. The remote media serveris configured to route an incoming call from the caller to the localdata center, to route one or more IVR messages to the caller and toconnect the caller with an agent for real-time communication. The agentis located in one of the second location or a third location that issubstantially closer to the second location than the first location.Having the local data center in the first location enables the IVRmessage to be received by the caller after a period of expected delayand having the remote media server in the second or third locationenables the real-time communication between the caller and the agent tobe within an acceptable latency.

Another embodiment disclosed herein relates to a method for reducinglatency between a caller and an agent in a computing system including alocal data center and a remote media server. The local data centerincludes one or more Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) functions thatare configured for use with a caller who initiates contact with thelocal data center. The remote media server is configured to provideend-point-connection functions configured to connect the caller with anagent in the same or a close location as the remote media server.

The method includes receiving at a remote media server an incomingcommunication; determining, based on the incoming communication, thatthe communication is to be sent to a local data center that is locatedin a first location, wherein the remote media server is located in asecond location that is remote from the first location; forwarding thecommunication to the local data center; receiving an IVR messageresponse from the local data center; forwarding the IVR message responseto the caller to allow the caller to select one or more functionsspecified in the IVR message; wherein the IVR message is received by thecaller within a period of expected delay such that the caller is unawareof the distance between the first and second location; and connectingthe caller to an agent for real-time communication in response to thecaller selecting the one or more functions of the IVR message, the agentbeing located in one of the second location or a third location that issubstantially closer to the second location than the first location;wherein having the remote media server in the second or third locationenables the real-time communication between the caller and the agent tobe within an acceptable latency.

A further embodiment disclosed herein relates to a method for reducinglatency in voice traffic between a caller and an agent. The methodincludes receiving at a media server a first communication from a datacenter that is located in a first location in response to a callerinitiated call; routing the first communication to the caller, whereinthe first communication includes an expected delay; receiving a secondcommunication from an agent in response to input from the caller,wherein the agent is located in a second location that is remote fromthe first location and wherein the media server is located in the secondlocation ; and routing the second communication to the caller, whereinthe second communication includes an acceptable latency.

These and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following description and appendedclaims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forthhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of thepresent invention, a more particular description of the invention willbe rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that thesedrawings depict only illustrated embodiments of the invention and aretherefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention willbe described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of contact handling system includinga local data center and remote media servers;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the local data center;

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a remote media server;

FIG. 4 illustrates the flow of a call into a remote media server whichrecognizes by the destination number that the call will be back-hauledto the company data center for IVR functionality; an inbound caller thatwas serviced by an IVR via back-haul is subsequently connected to aremote agent in order to minimize talk path propagation delay;

FIGS. 5A illustrates a remote caller connected to a remote agent andthat their conversation is being recorded remotely for later transfer tothe local data center;

FIG. 5B illustrates that a remote caller connected to a remote agent andthat their conversation is being recorded by mixing their conversationremotely and streaming the result to the local data center for storage;

FIG. 5C illustrates a remote caller connected to a remote agent wheretheir conversation is being recorded by streaming both call legs to thelocal data center for real-time mixing, recording and storage;

FIG. 6 illustrates a supervisor monitoring a conversation for qualityassessment, coaching, or conferencing;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for reducing latencybetween a caller and an agent;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for reducing latency invoice traffic between a caller and an agent; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a suitable computing environment in which embodimentsmay be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Many companies require centralized computer facilities to meet securityand cost requirements. When two or more sites are required forredundancy, the sites are often established in the same country forconvenience or to minimize regulatory requirements. Often thesecentralized facilities house resources which need to be accessedglobally for business needs, and can be very expensive if they need tobe replicated to international locations.

Streaming media is a critical component in most business environments.Streaming media may include voice and voice conferencing and data suchas video, video conferencing, etc. Often these streams must be recordedand stored in the data center of the business for regulatory or qualityassessment use. In the case of voice media, it is often necessary forthe recording to combine all participating parties into a single result.This is often performed by the company data center for secure access tocompany data storage.

When a media server is deployed to a remote area, it is often done ascomputer server hardware placed in a hosted or partnered data center.There is often a significant cost for initial purchase and installationof the hardware, as well as a monthly charge for rack space, floor area,power usage, network bandwidth, etc. The challenge is compounded byhardware and software maintenance issues, where 3^(rd)-party techniciansmust often be paid to do technical work on the remote media server underthe direction of business data center administrators. Not only can thecosts be significant, but the duration of time involved can be asignificant barrier to company time-to-market goals.

Remotely-deployed media servers that will be accessed by callers fromthe Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) or internet-based telephonyprotocols such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) require securitymeasures to prevent unauthorized access. If the remote media serversrequire registration or database servers to be deployed with them foraccount look-up, account validation, call routing or otherfunctionality, costs and complexity again go up.

Many businesses make use of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Unit aspart of their overall customer care offering. An IVR typically playsmusic-on-hold and pre-recorded voice messages, and accesses businessdata from the data center to offer information to the customer or offerchoices to the caller. Recording functions are also a typical functionof an IVR, and may be used to record the caller's name or record amessage from the caller. Other services may also be associated with anIVR. A Text-to-Speech (TTS) server may be used to convert an account tospeech and played to the caller. Choices offered to the caller may bedetected from the caller's vocal input by an Automated SpeechRecognition (ASR) server rather than relying on the traditional pressingof digits on the caller's hand-set. In many cases, the caller musteventually be connected to a company representative, which requirestelephony routing facilities.

The international expansion of a business often involves theestablishment in the target country of company representativesperforming functions such as customer care, sales, or other interactionswith customers in the target country. The connection between customerand company representative must often be initiated by first routing thecustomer to an IVR, and thereafter connecting the caller to a companyrepresentative (often referred to as an agent), the call being recordedby a media server, and all this while minimizing the propagation delay(shortest network distance) between callers and company representativesassigned to help them. If each call leg of the conversation isback-hauled to a company data center it will often add significantpropagation delays and thus hamper effective interaction. On the otherhand, it can be prohibitively expensive to field the ancillary IVR, TTS,ASR, and database servers needed to provide a local solution thatprovides minimized propagation delays, and at the same time theseoff-site servers trigger increased regulatory and security requirements,audits and maintenance.

Reference will now be made to the figures wherein like structures willbe provided with like reference designations. It is understood that thefigures are diagrammatic and schematic representations of someembodiments of the invention, and are not limiting of the presentinvention, nor are they necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a contact handling system 100which allows for reduced propagation delay in data communications. Thecontact handling system 100 includes a local data center 110 and remotemedia servers 130 and 140. FIG. 1 also illustrates that any additionalnumber of remote media servers 150 (shown by ellipses) may be includedin the contact handling system 100. One skilled in the art willappreciate that there may be a different number of remote data centersthan that depicted in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the local data center 110 is configured to provideIVR functionality to a caller via the remote media servers as will beexplained in more detail to follow. Accordingly, the local data centermay be coupled to the remote media servers 130, 140, and 150 by anetwork 120. As shown in FIG. 1, the local data center 110 and theremote media servers 130, 140, and 150 may communicate with each otherbi-directionally over the network 120. The network 120 may be anynetwork that is compatible with the local data center 110 or the remotemedia servers 130, 140, and 150. For example, the network 120 caninclude a telephone network. A telephone network can allow a customer toplace a telephone call to, or receive a telephone call from, the contacthandling system 100. For example, the network 120 can include the publicswitched telephone network (PSTN). The PSTN is the network of theworld's public circuit-switched telephone networks, or the networksset-up by telephone companies and governments to provide telephoneaccess to homes and businesses. The PSTN can include analog or digitalsystems and can include fixed or mobile telephones.

Additionally or alternatively, the network 120 can include a computernetwork that allows email, chat, or voice over internet protocol (VOIP).VOIP can include a family of transmission technologies for delivery ofvoice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or otherpacket-switched networks. The Internet includes a global internetworkformed by logical and physical connections between multiple wide areanetworks and/or local area networks. Alternately or additionally, thenetwork 120 can include one or more cellular RF networks and/or one ormore wired and/or wireless networks such as, but not limited to, 802.xxnetworks, Bluetooth access points, wireless access points, IP-basednetworks, satellite networks, or the like. The network 120 may alsoinclude servers or other switches that enable one type of network tointerface with another type of network. In some embodiments, network 120may be a private network or virtual private network.

As shown in FIG. 1, the local data center 110 is located in a location115. In one embodiment, the location 115 is a first country such as theUnited States of America. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the remotemedia server 130 is located in a remote location 135 while the remotemedia server 140 is located in a remote location 145. In the claims andin the specification, the terms “local” and “remote” are defined fromthe perspective of the data center 110. This means that a remote mediaserver and the location of the remote media server are remote from thelocal data center 110. For example, the remote location 135 may be asecond country that is not the United States of America, while theremote location 145 may be a third country that is neither the UnitedStates of America or the second country.

In one embodiment, the remote location 135 may be located on a differentcontinent than the location 115. For example, the remote location 135may be the United Kingdom, which is located in Europe, while thelocation 115 is the Untied States of America, which is located in NorthAmerica.

In some embodiments, the remote location 145 may also be located on adifferent continent than the location 115. In further embodiments, theremote locations 135 and 145 may be located on the same continent, suchas the United Kingdom and France, or they may be located on differentcontinents from each other. It will be appreciated that the remotelocations 135 and 145 need not be remote from each other, but only needbe remote from the perspective of the location 115 and the location datacenter 110.

In some embodiments, the remote media servers 130, 140, and 150 may becoupled to one another. In this way, the remote media servers are ableto route both voice and data to each other.

The remote data server 130 is also connected to, or accessible by, acaller 136 and/or an agent 137. The remote data server 140 is connectedto, or accessible by, a caller 146 and/or an agent 147. The callers 136and 146 represent callers who desire to communicate with the local datacenter 110 and/or one of the agents 137 or 147.

Accordingly, the callers 136 and 146 may initiate voice or datacommunication with the remote media servers 130 and 140. As will beexplained, the media servers are able to route the voice or datacommunication to the local data center 110, receive IVR data in return,and then provide local services as directed.

The agents represent a person or service that may be provided to thecallers 136 and 146 and that are in the same general geographic locationas the callers 136 or 146. For example, the agents 137 or 147 may be arepresentative of a company that speaks in real time with the caller 136or 146 and provides information, products, or other services to thecallers. In some embodiments, the agent may be in a different countrythan the caller, such as agent 147 may be in a different country thanthe caller 136. However, the agent will typically be as geographicallyclose to the caller as possible.

The contact handling system 100 takes advantage of an expectation ofdelay whenever a caller accesses an IVR system. For example, whenever acaller dials into the IVR system, he or she does not know how long itwill take to hear a greeting such as “Please press 1 for Sales and 2 forCustomer Service.” Rather, the caller only knows that some time periodwill pass before the greeting begins.

In addition, the caller also expects a delay between when a button onhis or her phone is pushed and the next action begins. For example, whenthe caller presses the 1 button for Sales, he or she expects a delaybefore hearing a new message with additional options. Likewise, when thecaller presses a button to be connected to a live agent, the callerexpects a delay until the live agent answers.

Because the caller has an expectation of delay, the caller generally hasno way to determine the location of a local data center that includesthe IVR functionality or the remote media server. In other words, evenif the caller is in a country that is on a different continent than thelocal data center, the caller will be unaware of this fact. That is,introducing some delay into the time from when the caller initiates thecall and when the IVR response is received does not degrade the callexperience of the caller since the caller is expecting the delay. Forexample, when a person dials a number, he or she expects a delay priorto hearing ring-back, and a further delay prior to answer. When a persondials a toll-free number (often to an IVR), he or she expects a delayprior to hearing the initial greeting. This delay perhaps may be up to 4seconds. However, once IVR interaction begins the expected delay betweena key press and audible feedback or progress drops to perhaps twoseconds. When an IVR is a long distance from a caller, a propagationdelay of 300 ms, when added to a delay of 2-4 seconds, is a smallpercentage and imperceptible because the caller does not know what toexpect from this particular IVR.

Thus, a local data center 110 that is placed in one country, for examplethe United States, is still able to provide IVR functionality to callersall around world through the remote media servers. Advantageously, theadditional costs of placing data centers that include IVR functionalityin more than one or a few countries can be avoided. In addition, theneed to comply with regulations in multiple countries is also reduced.

However, when the caller 136 or 146 is communicating with the agent inreal-time, perceptible latency is not expected. That is, if there is toomuch latency or signal propagation delay, then the caller's experiencewill be degraded as the conversation between the caller the and agentwill experience talk-over, where one party of the conversation beginsspeaking when the other may not have finished. Accordingly, by placingthe remote media servers that have the functionality to connect thecaller and the agent in a location that is in the same country or in anearby country as the caller, the real-time call latency or propagationdelay can be minimized when compared with contact handling systems thatmust back-haul the connection between the caller and the agent to asingle country. Thus, the caller's experience is not degraded.

In one embodiment, call latency between the caller and the agent of 300milliseconds (ms) will be the maximum allowable to ensure that thecaller and the agent do not experience talk-over from too muchpropagation delay. Advantageously, keeping the propagation delay at orbelow 300 ms provides for advantages over conventional contact handlingsystems. As mentioned, it is very expensive to place data centers inmultiple countries as this increases the equipment costs. In addition,since each country typically has its own regulations, placing datacenters in multiple countries increases regulatory costs. However,taking advantage of the expected delay allows for a single data centerin one country to communicate with remote media servers in multipledifferent countries without degrading the caller's experience.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of the local data center 110.As illustrated, the local data center includes various operationalmodules and components that allow the local data center 110 to controlvoice and data communication with one or more remote media servers.Although not necessarily shown as being coupled, so as to not distractfrom the embodiments disclosed herein, it will be understood that thevarious operational modules, components, and databases of the local datacenter 110 may be coupled to each other by any reasonable means such asa computer bus, other wiring, or wireless connection as circumstanceswarrant. In addition, it will be understood that although the variousoperational modules, components, and databases of the local data center110 are shown as being separate, this need not be the case. In someillustrative embodiments, the one or more modules or databases may beincluded within another module or database.

The local data center 110 includes a processor 210. The processor 210may be any reasonable processor and in operation allows the local datacenter 110 to perform various operations. In some embodiments, theprocessor 210 may be accessed by the various operational modules of thelocal data center 110 to provide the modules processing resources.

The local data center 110 also includes a database or memory 220. Thedatabase 220 may be any type of reasonable non-volatile or volatilememory. The database 220 is able to provide data storage for the othermodules and components of local data center 110.

The local data center 110 further includes an Interactive VoiceRecognition (IVR) module or component 230. The IVR module 230 providesIVR functionality to incoming voice communications. For example, anincoming voice communication from one of the remote media servers willcause the IVR to activate. The IVR may then provide an IVR message tothe caller that will direct them to make a selection. For instance, anIVR message may specify “Please press 1 for Sales, 2 for CustomerService”. Depending on which selection the caller makes, the IVR module230 will then direct the caller to the next message or to an agent forfurther service.

The IVR module 230 may work in conjunction with a Text to Speech (TTS)module 240. The TTS module 240 is configured to generate a voicerepresentation of text. For example, the TTS module 240 allows a textmessage to become vocalized and then played to a caller as part of theIVR functionality.

The local data center 110 also includes an Automatic Speech Recognition(ASR) module 250, which may work in conjunction with the IVR module 230.The ASR module 250 is configured to recognize a response that is spoken.For example, a caller may be prompted by an IVR message to make aselection. The caller may then respond with a spoken selection. The ASRmodule will interpret the spoken selection and provide the response tothe IVR module 230 so that the caller may be directed to the nextmessage or to an agent for further service.

The IVR module may also work in conjunction with a Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) module 260. The DTMF module 260 is configured torecognize the various dial tones of each button on a standard telephone.In this way, when a caller presses the 1 button on the phone in responseto the IVR message, the DTMF module is able to recognize that the 1button has been selected. The response may then be provided to the IVRmodule 230 so that the caller may be directed to the next message or toan agent for further service.

The local data center 110 further includes a recording module 270. Therecording module 270 is configured to allow for various call legs to berecorded and then stored on disk or in the database 220. As will beexplained in more detail to follow, in one embodiment, two call legs maybe received from one or two of the remote media servers, one call legbeing from the caller and the other from the agent. The recording modulemay mix the call legs into a single call event and then store the eventin the database 220. In another embodiment, the mixing of the two calllegs into a single audio stream may occur at the remote media server.The single audio stream may then be streamed to the recording module 270and then stored on disk or in the database 220.

The local data center 110 may additionally include a coaching module280. In operation, the coaching module 280 is configured to allow auser, such as a supervisor, to speak instructions to an agent who istalking to a caller without the caller hearing the supervisor. Inaddition, the coaching module 280 also allows the supervisor to becomean active participant in the phone conversation so that caller is ableto hear both the agent and the supervisor. In this way, the supervisoris able to directly talk to the caller as circumstances warrant.

In some embodiments, the local data center 110 may further include anagent module 290, which may be an Automatic Call Distributor or anAutomatic Contact Distributor (ACD). The agent module may include alisting 295 of agents, such as agents 137 and 147, and their geographiclocations. In operation, the agent module 290 may determine, based on anincoming call or data, the location of the caller. The agent module maythen use the list 295 to determine the agent closet to the caller andthe remote media server that is able to connect the closest agent to thecaller. For example, if the caller where in England, the agent module290 will use the list 295 to determine if there are any available agentsin England and if so, which one is closest. If there are no availableagents in England, then the agent module 290 would determine where theclosest available agent is located, for example in France. Once thelocation of the closest available agent is determined, the remote mediaserver that can connect the caller to the agent is also determined. Thisinformation may be provided to the IVR module 230 so that is can be sentto the remote media server for connection of the caller and the agent.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of the remote media server 130,and may correspond to any of the remote media servers 140 or 150 ofFIG. 1. As illustrated, the remote media server 130 includes variousoperational modules and components that allow the remote media server130 to manage endpoint connections between a local data center, anotherremote media server, a caller, an agent, and/or a supervisor. Althoughnot necessarily shown as being coupled, so as to not distract from theembodiments disclosed herein, it will be understood that the variousoperational modules, components, and databases of the remote mediaserver 130 may be coupled to each other by any reasonable means such asa computer bus, other wiring, or wireless connection as circumstanceswarrant. In addition, it will be understood that although the variousoperational modules, components, and databases of the remote mediaserver 130 are shown as being separate, this need not be the case. Insome illustrative embodiments, the one or more modules or databases maybe included within another module or database.

The remote media server 130 includes a processor 310. The processor 310may be any reasonable processor and in operation allows the remote mediaserver 130 to perform various operations. In some embodiments, theprocessor 310 may be accessed by the various operational modules of theremote media server 130 to provide the modules processing resources.

The remote media server 130 also includes a database or memory 320. Thedatabase 320 may be any type of reasonable non-volatile or volatilememory. The database 320 is able to provide data storage for the othermodules and components of remote media server 130.

The remote media server 130 further includes an endpoint connectionmodule 330. In operation, the endpoint connection module 330 isconfigured to determine, based on the incoming communication data, wherea particular call leg should be routed. For example, if the destinationnumber specifies that the call should be routed to an IVR, thedestination is the local data center 110, and the endpoint connectionmodule 330 will route the call leg to the local data center Likewise, ifthe endpoint connection module 330 determines that a call leg should berouted to an agent or to another remote media server, the endpointconnection module 330 will route the call leg to the intend party.

As mentioned in connection with FIG. 1, the remote media server 130 islocated in a remote location, which is often in a country on anothercontinent than the local data center 110. As such, it may often be thecase that the remote media server 130 and the local data center 110 willemploy different voice and data standards. Accordingly, the remote mediaserver 130 may include a format converter module 340 that may work inconjunction with the endpoint connection module 330. The formatconversion module may be configured to convert an incoming call leg intoa format that is acceptable to the receiving endpoint. For example, ifthe remote media server 130 were located in Europe and the local datacenter were located in the United States, then the format convertermodule 340 would convert a call leg from a European audio standard to aUnited States audio standard prior to routing the call leg to the localdata center 110.

The remote media server 130 further includes a recording module 350. Therecording module 350 is configured to mix two call legs into a singleaudio stream and then route the result to the local data center forstorage. The IVR 230, recoding module 350, or other modules may includerules or polices 355 that indicate when the single audio stream shouldbe streamed to the local data center 110 for storage. For example, therules or polices 355 may specify that a single audio stream should bestreamed to the local data center 110 immediately after being mixed.

In another embodiment, the single audio stream may be stored in thedatabase 320. The rules or policies 355 may then specify that the singleaudio stream should be streamed to the local data center 110 wheneverthe bandwidth is below a designated amount or during off-peak hours suchas overnight. In this way, bandwidth is preserved as the recorded resultis only streamed during those times where bandwidth is plentiful or lesscostly.

In some embodiments, the remote media server 130 may include an on-holdaudio module 360. The on-hold audio module is configured to includemusic, recorded instructions, advertising, or other content that may beplayed to the caller while the caller is on hold. For example, a callermay be put on hold while the endpoint connection module 330 connectswith another remote media server or a local agent. During such time, theon-hold audio module 360 may play music to the caller. Advantageously,having the on-hold audio module 360 stored at the remote media server130 rather than just at the local data center 110 may preserve bandwidthas the content of the on-hold audio module 360 need not be transmittedfrom the local data center to the remote media server prior to beingplayed to the caller.

In some embodiments, the remote media server 130 may further include anagent module 370. The agent module 370 may include a list 375 of theagents, such as agents 137 and 147, which are closest to the remotemedia server. In this way, the remote media server is able to connect acaller that is local to the remote media server 130 with the agent thatis closes when directed by the local data center 110. In someembodiments, the agent module 370 may work in conjunction with the agentmodule 280 previously described.

Having described embodiments of a local data center and a remote mediaserver, attention is now given to describing various aspects of thecontact handling system 100. Attention is first given to FIG. 4, whichillustrates the flow of a call into a remote data center that will beback-hauled to the local data center. In FIG. 4, the network 120 hasbeen omitted so that the additional features of this figure may be seenmore clearly. As illustrated, a caller 136 initiates a call leg 410. Thecall leg 410 is received by the remote media server 130, specificallythe endpoint connection module 330. The end point connection moduledetermines, based on the destination number of call leg 410, that thecall requires the services of the local data center and therefore is tobe back-hauled to the local data center 110. As illustrated, the caller136 and the remote media server 130 may be in a location 135 that is acountry that is on a different continent than the location or country115 of the local data center 110. For example, the location or country115 may be England and the location or country 115 may the UnitedStates. As mentioned above, the terms “local” and “remote” are definedfrom the perspective of the location of the data center 110.

The endpoint connection module 330 then routes the call leg 410 to localdata center 110. In some embodiments, the format conversion module 340may convert the call leg 410 from a format used in the location orcountry 135 to one used by the location or country 115.

The call leg 410 is then received by the local data center 110, wherethe IVR module 230 generates or accesses an IVR message 420 to be sentback to the caller 136. As previously described, the other modules oflocal data center 110 may work in conjunction with the IVR module 230 ininterpreting the call 410 and/or generating or accessing the IVR message420.

The IVR message 420 is then sent to the remote media server 130. Ifneeded, the format conversion module 340 may convert the IVR message 420to a format that used by the telephone or other system that caller 136is using. The remote media server 130 may then route the IVR message 420to the caller 136.

As discussed above, the caller 136 has an expectation of some delaybetween the time he or she initiates the call 410 and when he or shereceives the IVR message 420. This expected delay ensures that thecaller 136 is unaware of the distance between the local data center 110and the caller. Thus, the cost savings and the bandwidth savingspreviously discussed may be achieved.

The caller 136 may then select an option from the IVR message 420. Forexample, the IVR message 420 may tell the caller 136 to push the 1button on his or her phone to contact a live agent. This response (i.e.pushing the 1 button), shown in FIG. 4 as message 430, is then sent tothe local data center 110.

Since the caller 136 selected an option that indicated a desire to speakto a live agent, the agent module 290 of the local data center maydetermine where the nearest available agent is located. As mentioned, itis desirable to connect the caller 136 with an agent in the same countryor at least a nearby country to minimize talk path propagation delay.This is especially beneficial if the local data center and the remotemedia servers are located on different continents as trans-continentcommunication typically requires a much larger bandwidth than localcommunication.

Thus, if the caller 136 were in England, then the agent module 290 wouldtry to select an available agent in England. In some embodiments, theagent module 370 of the remote media server is used by the local datacenter 110 to help determine the nearest agent. In the illustratedembodiment, the agent 137 is the nearest agent and is located inlocation or country 135.

Once the nearest available agent is selected, the local data center 110will send notification to the remote media server 130 to connect thecaller 136 with the agent 137. This is illustrated as message 440 inFIG. 4. As mentioned previously, the caller 136 also has an expectationof delay between the time he or she selects the option to connect with alive agent and the time that he or she is actually connected.

In some embodiments, there may be a need to delay the connection of thecaller 136 and the agent 137 beyond the expected delay. For instance,the agent 137 may be engaged with another caller or may be otherwiseunavailable. In such embodiments, the caller 136 may be placed on holdby the local data center 110 or the remote media server 130. While onhold, the on-hold audio module 360 of remote media server may play musicor the like to the caller 136 until the agent 137 connects with thecaller. Advantageously, the ability to transfer a call back and forthbetween the local data center 110 and the remote media server 130 cansave considerable bandwidth while the caller 136 is on hold andlistening to the music.

The remote media server 130 may then connect the caller 136 and theagent 137. The conversation between the caller 136 and the agent 137 isillustrated in FIG. 4 by call legs 450 and 460. As long of the latencyor propagation delay of 300 ms or less is maintained, which is achievedby having the remote media server 130, the caller 136, and the agent 137in the same country or in nearby countries, the caller's experience isnot degraded.

In an alternative embodiment, it may be that the nearest available agentis agent 147. In such embodiments, the remote media server 130 may routethe message 440 to the remote media server 140. The remote media server130 and the remote media server 140 may then ensure that caller 136 andagent 147 are connected to one another.

Attention is now given to FIGS. 5A-5C, which illustrate call legrecording aspects of the contact handling system 100. In FIG. 5A, theremote media server 130 has connected the caller 136 with the agent 137.This may take place after the actions described in FIG. 4 above,although this is not required.

As shown, the caller 136 provides call leg 510 intended for the agent137 to the remote media server 130. The call leg 510 may then beprovided by the remote media server 130 to the agent 137. The agent 137provides call leg 520 intended for the caller 136 to the remote mediaserver 130. The call leg 520 may then be provided by the remote mediaserver 130 to the caller 136.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5A, the recording module 350 is able to mixthe call legs 510 and 520 into a single audio stream 530. The singleaudio stream 530 may then be stored in the disk or database 350 forstreaming to the local data center 110 at a later period of time. Aswill be appreciated, recording the call legs 510 and 520 allows forreview of the call 530 by a supervisor of the agent 137 for qualitycontrol, training, and other uses that may be beneficial to theoperators of contact handling system 100.

As mentioned above, the recording module 350 includes rules or policies355 that specify when the call 530 should be streamed to the local datacenter 110. For example, in one embodiment, the rules or policies 355may specify that transmission of the audio 530 take place whenever thebandwidth usage between local data center 110 and remote media server130 is below a predetermined threshold. In other embodiments, the rulesor policies 355 may specify that the transmission of audio 530 takeplace during the night or some other time period when the bandwidthusage between local data center 110 and remote media server 130 istypically low. As will be appreciated, the rules or polices 355 mayspecify transmission of the audio 530 in any manner that minimizes costor bandwidth use.

FIG. 5B illustrates additional call leg recording aspects of contacthandling system 100. As with FIG. 5A, the remote media server 130 hasconnected the caller 136 with the agent 137 so that the caller 136 andthe agent may have a conversation. The conversation may include calllegs 510 and 520 as previously described.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5B, the recording module 350 is able to mixthe call legs 510 and 520 into a single call 530. However, instead ofstoring the audio 530 for later transmission to the local data center110, the audio 530 is streamed in real-time to the local data center110. The call 530 may then be stored in database 220. As can beappreciated, real-time streaming of the audio 530 allows for real-timemonitoring, real-time training, and the like.

FIG. 5C illustrates additional call leg recording aspects of contacthandling system 100. As with FIG. 5A, the remote media server 130 hasconnected the caller 136 with the agent 137 so that the caller 136 andthe agent may have a conversation. The conversation may include calllegs 510 and 520 as previously described.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5C, the recoding module 350 does not record ormix the audio streams 510 and 520. Rather, the audio streams 510 and 520are streamed in real-time to the local data center 110. Upon receipt ofaudio streams 510 and 520, the record module 270 may mix the call legsinto the single audio 530. The single audio 530 may be stored in thedatabase 220 to allow for monitoring and training as circumstanceswarrant.

The embodiments of FIGS. 5A-5B allow for flexibility in choosing whereto mix and record call legs. As will be appreciated, in somecircumstances, it may be desirable to mix and record in the remote mediaserver and this may save bandwidth since live streaming may not occurand separate streams and likewise not required. In addition, if amonitoring supervisor is located in the remote location, then there maybe no need to stream the call legs to the local data center. However, inother circumstances it may be desirable to mix and record the call audioat the local data center. For example, it may be that a remote mediaserver does not have the ability to mix or record. In addition, if amonitoring supervisor is located near the local data center, then mixingand recording at the local data center may be desirable for real-timemonitoring.

Attention is now given to FIG. 6, which illustrates various monitoringaspects of contact handling system 100. As shown, the caller 136provides call leg 610 intended for the agent 137 to the remote mediaserver 130. The conversation call leg 610 may then be provided by theremote media server 130 to the agent 137. The agent 137 provides callleg 620 intended for the caller 136 to the remote media server 130. Thecall leg 610 may then be provided by the remote media server 130 to thecaller 136.

As shown in FIG. 6, in addition to being provided to the caller 136 andthe agent 137, the call legs 610 and 620 may also be forked by theremote media server 130 so that they are accessible in real-time to asupervisor 605. In this way, the supervisor 605 is able to monitor theconversation. As described above in relation to FIGS. 5, the call legsmay also be mixed prior to being monitored by supervisor 605. In someembodiments the supervisor 605 may be a local supervisor who accessescall legs 610 and 620 through the local data center 110. In otherembodiments, the supervisor 605 may be a remote supervisor who accessesthe call legs 610 and 620 through the remote media server 130 or throughanother remote media server such as remote media server 140 or 150.

In one embodiment, the supervisor 605 may desire to communicate with theagent 137 while the conversation is occurring without the caller 136hearing the supervisor. This may be done so that the supervisor 605 cancoach or train the agent 137 in real time. This action is known as“coaching”. Accordingly, the coaching module 280 may allow thesupervisor 630 to provide a coaching message 630 to the agent 137 whilethe conversation is occurring. The coaching message may includeinstructions or other training as circumstances warrant. The remotemedia server may route the coaching message 630 to the agent 137. Thecoaching module 280 may also determine a priority between coachingmessage 630 and the conversation 620A. Thus, if the agent is only ableto hear one message at a time, the coaching module 280 causes thecoaching message 630 to override the conversation 620A.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable for the supervisor 605 tocommunicate directly with the caller 136. The coaching module 280 mayallow the supervisor 630 provide a message 640 to the caller 136. Theremote media server may route the message 640 to the caller 136. Thecoaching module 280 may also determine a priority between message 640and the conversation 610. Thus, if the caller is only able to hear onemessage at a time, the coaching module 280 causes the message 640 tooverride the conversation 610.

Attention is now made to FIG. 7, which illustrates a flow diagram of amethod 700 for reducing latency between a caller and an agent. Themethod 700 may be performed in a computing system including the localdata center 110 and the remote media server 130, 140, or 150 previouslydescribed.

The method 700 includes receiving 710 at a remote media server anincoming communication. For example, the remote media server 130 mayreceive a call or other communication 410 from the caller 136.

The method 700 also includes determining 720, based on the incomingcommunication, that the communication is to be sent to a local datacenter and forwarding 730 the communication to the local data center.For example, the local media center 130, specifically the end pointconnection module 330, may determine from the phone number associatedwith the call 410, that the call 410 should be sent to the local datacenter 110. The remote media server may then forward the call 410 to thelocal data center 110. As previously described, the local data center110 may be located in a first location or country 115 and the remotemedia server 130 may be located in a second country or location 135. Insome embodiments, the location 135 may be on a different continent thanthe first location 115.

The method 700 further includes receiving 740 an IVR message responsefrom the local data center and forwarding 750 the IVR message responseto the caller to allow the caller to select one or more functionsspecified in the IVR message. For example, the remote media server 130may receive the IVR message 420 from the local data center 110. Theremote media server may then forward the IVR message 420 to the caller136.

As previously described, the IVR message 410 is received by the caller136 within a period of expected delay. That is, the caller 136 expectsthat some delay will occur between the time the caller 136 initiates thecall with the local data center 110 and the time the caller receives theIVR message 420 in response. This expected delay means that the localdata center 110 may be located in one country and the remote mediaserver 130 may be located in another country without the caller knowingthe distance between the two. This allows for the advantages previouslydiscussed.

The method 700 also includes connecting 760 the caller to an agent forreal-time communication in response to the caller selecting the one ormore functions of the IVR message. For example, the caller 136 mayselect an option in the IVR message 420 that indicates a desire to speakwith a live agent. This may be sent to the local data center 110, wherethe agent module 290 may determine that the agent 137 is the nearestagent to the caller 136. As previously described, the nearest agent istypically located in the same location or country as the caller 136 oris located in a location or country that is closer to the caller 136than the local data center is.

The local data center may then provide message 440 that indicates thatthe remote media server 130 should connect the caller 136 with the agent137. The remote media server 130 may then connect the caller 136 and theagent 137, who may communicate using call legs 450 and 460.

As previously described, having the remote media server in the samelocation, or country as the caller 136 or in a location or country thatis close to the caller, enables the real-time communication between thecaller 136 and the agent 137 to be within an acceptable latency sincethe caller 136 and the agent 137 are close to each other and to theremote media server 130. In some embodiments, the accepted latency is300 ms or less.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for reducing latency in voice trafficbetween a caller and an agent. The method 800 includes receiving 810 ata media server a first communication from a data center that is locatedin a first location in response to a caller initiated call. For example,the remote media server 130 may receive the IVR message 420 from thelocal data center 110 in response to the call 410. As previouslydescribed, the local data center 110 may be located in a first locationor country 115 and the remote media server 130 may be located in asecond country or location 135. In some embodiments, the location 135may be on a different continent than the first location 115.

The method 800 also includes routing 820 the first communication to thecaller. For example, the remote media server 130 may route the IVRmessage 420 to the caller 136. As previously described, the IVR message420 is received by the caller 136 after a period of expected delay.

The method 800 further includes receiving 830 a second communicationfrom an agent in response to input from the caller. For example, theremote media server 130 may receive the call leg 450 from the agent 137in response to selecting an option in the IVR message 420 as previouslydescribed. As also previously described, the agent 137 and the remotemedia server may be located in the same location or country as thecaller 136, which may be the location or country 135.

The method 800 may additional include routing 840 the secondcommunication to the caller. For example, the remote media server 130may route the call 450 to the caller 136. As previously describedcommunication between the caller 136 and the agent 137 may be within anacceptable latency since the caller 136 and the agent 137 are close toeach other and to the remote media server 130. In some embodiments, theaccepted latency is 300 ms or less.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and otherprocesses and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in theprocesses and methods may be implemented in differing order.Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations are only provided asexamples, and some of the steps and operations may be optional, combinedinto fewer steps and operations, or expanded into additional steps andoperations without detracting from the essence of the disclosedembodiments.

Attention is again made to FIG. 1. In one illustrative embodiment, thenetwork 120 and one or both of the remote media servers 130 and 140 maybe implemented as a cloud computing system. For example, in theillustrative embodiment, the local data center 110 and the remote mediaserver 130 may be controlled by the same entity and operate as describedabove. However, the remote media server 140 (referred to a cloudcomputing system 140 in this embodiment) may be a cloud computing systemthat is controlled by a cloud computing provider. As is known, the cloudcomputing system 140 will include computing resources that can beutilized by a contracting party.

During operation, the remote media server 130 may reach its operatingcapacity, therefore necessitating the need for additional remote mediaserver resources. In the illustrative embodiment, a remote media serverimage that specifies the functionality described above in relation toFIG. 3 may be provided by local data center 110 to the cloud computingsystem 140. In some embodiments, the local data center 110 will includethe ability to automatically sense the need for the additional remotemedia server and the ability to automatically provide the image inresponse to the need.

The remote media server image allows the entity that controls the localdata center 110 to provision the cloud computing system 140 with thefunctionality of the remote media server 130. Accordingly, an inboundcall from the caller 146 will be received by the cloud computing system140, which acting as a remote media server will direct the call to thelocal data center 110 in the manner previously described.

Once the local data center 110 determines that there is no longer anyneed for the additional remote media server, the local data center mayremove the remote media server image from the cloud computing system140. This will cause the cloud computing system 110 to no longer havethe functionality of the remote media server 130.

Advantageously, the use of the cloud computing system allows for theimplementation of additional remote media servers when needed. In areaswhere there is not enough demand to justify the cost of a permanentremote media server, the cloud computing system can be used to implementthe remote media server until such a time that there is enough businessfor a permanent remote media server to be cost effective.

FIG. 9 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in which theinvention may be implemented. Although not required, the invention willbe described in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, being executed by computers in networkenvironments. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particularactions or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of the program code means for executing steps of the methodsdisclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represents examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may bepracticed in network computing environments with many types of computersystem configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices,mobile phones, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where actions are performed by localand remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwiredlinks, wireless links, or by a combination of hardwired or wirelesslinks) through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 9, an example system for implementing theinvention includes a general purpose computing device in the form of aconventional computer 920, including a processing unit 921, a systemmemory 922, and a system bus 923 that couples various system componentsincluding the system memory 922 to the processing unit 921. It should benoted however, that as mobile phones become more sophisticated, mobilephones are beginning to incorporate many of the components illustratedfor conventional computer 920. Accordingly, with relatively minoradjustments, mostly with respect to input/output devices, thedescription of conventional computer 920 applies equally to mobilephones. The system bus 923 may be any of several types of bus structuresincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memoryincludes read only memory (ROM) 924 and random access memory (RAM) 925.A basic input/output system (BIOS) 926, containing the basic routinesthat help transfer information between elements within the computer 920,such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 924.

The computer 920 may also include a magnetic hard disk drive 927 forreading from, and writing to, a magnetic hard disk 939, a magnetic diskdrive 928 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 929,and an optical disc drive 30 for reading from, or writing to, removableoptical disc 931 such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The magnetichard disk drive 927, magnetic disk drive 928, and optical disc drive 930are connected to the system bus 923 by a hard disk drive interface 932,a magnetic disk drive-interface 933, and an optical drive interface 934,respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable mediaprovide nonvolatile storage of computer-executable instructions, datastructures, program modules and other data for the computer 920.Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a magnetichard disk 939, a removable magnetic disk 929 and a removable opticaldisc 931, other types of computer readable media for storing data can beused, including magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalversatile discs, RAMs, ROMs, and the like.

Program code means comprising one or more program modules may be storedon the hard disk 939, magnetic disk 929, optical disc 931, ROM 924 orRAM 925, including an operating system 935, one or more applicationprograms 936, other program modules 937, and program data 938. A usermay enter commands and information into the computer 920 throughkeyboard 940, pointing device 942, or other input devices (not shown),such as a microphone, joy stick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, orthe like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 921 through a serial port interface 946 coupled tosystem bus 923. Alternatively, the input devices may be connected byother interfaces, such as a parallel port, a game port or a universalserial bus (USB). A monitor 947 or another display device is alsoconnected to system bus 923 via an interface, such as video adapter 948.In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically include otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers.

The computer 920 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computers949 a and 949 b. Remote computers 949 a and 949 b may each be anotherpersonal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device orother common network node, and typically include many or all of theelements described above relative to the computer 920, although onlymemory storage devices 950 a and 950 b and their associated applicationprograms 936 a and 936 b have been illustrated in FIG. 9. The logicalconnections depicted in FIG. 9 include a local area network (LAN) 951and a wide area network (WAN) 952 that are presented here by way ofexample and not limitation. Such networking environments are commonplacein office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 920 is connectedto the local network 951 through a network interface or adapter 953.When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 920 may includea modem 954, a wireless link, or other means for establishingcommunications over the wide area network 952, such as the Internet. Themodem 954, which may be internal or external, is connected to the systembus 923 via the serial port interface 946. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 920, or portionsthereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and othermeans of establishing communications over wide area network 952 may beused.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-tiered communication system forminimizing communication latency for a caller in a remote location whoinitiates contact with a local data center, the system comprising: alocal data center located in a first location, the local data centerincluding one or more Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) functions thatare configured for use with a caller who initiates contact with thelocal data center; and a remote media server located in a secondlocation that is remote from the first location, the remote media serverconfigured to route an incoming call from the caller to the local datacenter, to route one or more IVR messages to the caller and to connectthe caller with an agent for real-time communication, the agent beinglocated in one of the second location or a third location that issubstantially closer to the second location than the first location;wherein having the local data center in the first location enables theIVR message to be received by the caller after a period of expecteddelay and wherein having the remote media server in the second or thirdlocation enables the real-time communication between the caller and theagent to be within an acceptable latency.
 2. The system in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the first location is located in a first countryand the second location is located is a second country that is differentfrom the first country.
 3. The system in accordance with claim 2,wherein the second country is on a continent that is different from thecontinent where the first country is located.
 4. The system inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the acceptable latency is 300 ms orless.
 5. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the real-timecommunication between the caller and the agent comprises a first callleg of communication sent from the caller to the agent and a second callleg of communication sent from the agent to the caller, wherein theremote media server is further configured to mix the first and secondcall legs to produce a single stream, to store the single stream in adatabase and to route the single stream to the local data center inaccordance with one or more rules that specify when the single streamshould be routed to the local data center.
 6. The system in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the real-time communication between the caller andthe agent comprises a first call leg of communication sent from thecaller to the agent and a second call leg of communication sent from theagent to the caller, wherein the remote media server is furtherconfigured to mix the first and second call legs to produce a singlestream and to route in real-time the single stream to the local datacenter for storage.
 7. The system in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe real-time communication between the caller and the agent comprises afirst audio stream of communication sent from the caller to the agentand a second audio stream of communication sent from the agent to thecaller, wherein the remote media server is further configured to streamthe first and second audio streams in real-time to the local datacenter, wherein the local data center is further configured to receivethe first and second audio streams, to mix the first and second audiostreams to produce a single stream, and to store the single stream in adatabase.
 8. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein thereal-time communication between the caller and the agent comprises afirst call leg of communication sent from the caller to the agent and asecond call leg of communication sent from the agent to the caller,wherein the remote media server is further configured to fork the firstor second call leg to a supervisor to allow for monitoring of the firstor second call leg.
 9. In a computing system including a local datacenter and a remote media server, the local data center including one ormore Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) functions that are configuredfor use with a caller who initiates contact with the local data centerand the remote media server configured to provide end-point-connectionfunctions configured to connect the caller with an agent in the same orclose location as the remote media server, a method for reducing latencybetween the caller and the agent, the method comprising: receiving, at aremote media server, an incoming communication; determining, based onthe incoming communication, that the communication is to be sent to thelocal data center that is located in a first location, wherein theremote media server is located in a second location that is remote fromthe first location; forwarding the communication to the local datacenter; receiving an IVR message response from the local data center;forwarding the IVR message response to the caller to allow the caller toselect one or more functions specified in the IVR message; wherein theIVR message is received by the caller within a period of expected delaysuch that the caller is unaware of the distance between the first andsecond location; and connecting the caller to an agent for real-timecommunication in response to the caller selecting the one or morefunctions of the IVR message, the agent being located in one of thesecond location or a third location that is substantially closer to thesecond location than the first location; wherein having the remote mediaserver in the second location enables the real-time communicationbetween the caller and the agent to be within an acceptable latency. 10.The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the first location islocated in a first country and the second location is located is asecond country that is different from the first country, wherein thesecond country is on a continent that is different from the continentwhere the first country is located.
 11. The system in accordance withclaim 9, wherein the acceptable latency is 300 ms or less.
 12. Themethod in accordance with claim 9, wherein the real-time communicationbetween the caller and the agent comprises a first call leg ofcommunication sent from the caller to the agent and a second call leg ofcommunication sent from the agent to the caller, the method furthercomprising: mixing the audio of first and second call legs to produce asingle audio stream; storing the single stream in a database; androuting the single stream to the local data center in accordance withone or more rules that specify when the single stream should be routedto the local data center.
 13. The method in accordance with claim 9,wherein the real-time communication between the caller and the agentcomprises a first call leg of communication sent from the caller to theagent and a second call leg of communication sent from the agent to thecaller, the method further comprising: mixing the audio of the first andsecond call legs to produce a single audio stream; and routing inreal-time the single stream to the local data center for storage. 14.The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the real-timecommunication between the caller and the agent comprises a first callleg of communication sent from the caller to the agent and a second callleg of communication sent from the agent to the caller, the methodfurther comprising: streaming the first and second call legs inreal-time to the local data center, wherein the local data center isconfigured to receive the first and second call legs, to mix the firstand second call legs to produce a single audio stream, and to store thesingle stream in a database.
 15. The method in accordance with claim 9,wherein the real-time communication between the caller and the agentcomprises a first call leg of communication sent from the caller to theagent and a second call leg of communication sent from the agent to thecaller, the method further comprising: forking the first or second callleg to a supervisor to allow for monitoring of the first or second callleg.
 16. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the remote mediaserver is part of a cloud computing network and wherein the remote mediaserver has been provisioned to function as the remote media server. 17.A method for reducing latency in voice traffic between a caller and anagent, the method comprising: receiving at a media server a firstcommunication from a data center that is located in a first location inresponse to a caller initiated call; routing the first communication tothe caller, wherein the first communication includes an expected delay;receiving a second communication from an agent in response to input fromthe caller, wherein the agent is located in a second location that isremote from the first location and wherein the media server is locatedin the second location ; and routing the second communication to thecaller, wherein the second communication includes an acceptable latency.18. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein first communicationis an IVR message and wherein the caller input selects an optionspecified in the IVR communication.
 19. The method in accordance withclaim 17, wherein the first location is located in a first country andthe second location is located is a second country that is differentfrom the first country, wherein the second country is on a continentthat is different from the continent where the first country is located.20. The system in accordance with claim 17, wherein the acceptablelatency is 300 ms or less.